On Thursday, there was a report that part of the reason Manning decided against broadcasting was because of little brother Eli Manning, quarterback of the New York Giants.

Peyton Manning told Restaurant Business Magazine at a conference in Phoenix this week that he didn’t “want to be a critic at this point” and that he was enjoying being a fan. He noted that he still does a lot of commercials, and Manning likely makes a good chunk of money making speeches like the one he made at the restaurant conference in Phoenix.

ESPN and Fox wanted Peyton Manning to become a broadcaster, but he turned them down – is part, reportedly, because he didn’t want to have to be critical of brother Eli. (AP)

According to Marchand, Manning was so serious about not calling Eli’s games that if he’d agreed to do Thursday night games, Fox would have tried to make it so the Giants weren’t on their Thursday schedule. That would have been interesting, because every team is supposed to play one of those games, and in January Fox won the bid to air all Thursday games for the next five years.

Fox still airs an NFC-heavy schedule on Sundays, and could have tried to keep the Giants there to avoid any conflict for Manning.

Sources told Marchand that both Fox and ESPN were willing to pay Manning $16 million over four years, and that Manning’s ultimate desire is to run a team, as his former boss, John Elway, does with Denver, or to enter into ownership, like Derek Jeter with the Miami Marlins.